Hobbit Day!
by all-the-angels
Summary: The day after their fun in the Misty Mountains, Thorin decided it would be best for the Company to have a day of recovery before braving Mirkwood. Fili and Kili, fond of generic tomfoolery and silliness as they are, decide that this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about Hobbit culture, much to the distress of one Bilbo Baggins. WARNING: Spoilers, and Thilbo Bagginshield


"Bilbo, today is Hobbit Day."

"... Pardon?"

Bilbo straightened up from where he was tending to the fire, about to prepare breakfast for their Company of fourteen (fifteen, if you want to include a certain grey wizard who came and went as it suited his fancy), to face Fili and Kili with his full attention. "What was that?"

"Today is Hobbit Day!" Fili repeated, grinning in an identical way to his brother.

"I'm pretty sure such a thing doesn't exist," Bilbo responded, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at the mischievous pair.

"It most certainly does!"

"Now it does, anyway."

"We've just invented it."

"Just a few moments ago."

"Why?" Bilbo asked, tilting his head.

"Because we've discovered that Hobbits have a very different lifestyle than Dwarves-"

"Of course, that goes without saying-"

"They couldn't be more different, now that I think about it-"

"You're a right tiny bloke, actually-"

"You're hardly a foot taller than me!" Bilbo interrupted, stomping his foot on the ground. "Dwarves are hardly larger than Hobbits!"

"You're right, in a sense."

"I mean, you're much wider round the middle-"

"What with you're seven hundred thousand meals a day-"

"But I digress."

"That actually brings us back to our main point."

Bilbo was starting to get serious whiplash from looking back and forth between the two brothers, and a migraine was beginning to pound in the back of his head. Their voices, which could actually be rather pleasant when joking around a fire or separately while on the road, were actually rather irritating when talking at the same time in what Bilbo suspected to be a pointless rant. "Which is?"

"Hobbit Day!" FIli and Kili cheered in unison, throwing their arms in the air.  
"Today, Bilbo," Kili said, throwing an arm around Bilbo's shoulders. "We're going to do everything... Hobbity."

"Hobbity?"

"In a hobbit-like fashion," Fili specified, copying the movements of his brother and putting an arm around Bilbo's shoulder from the opposite side.

"In such a way that is similar to the routine of Hobbits."

"Hobbit-ish, you could say."

"Okay, okay, I understand," Bilbo said loudly when Kili opened his mouth to continue. "But why?"

"Because we thought we owed it to you, you see," Fili said, removing his arm from around Bilbo's shoulder and standing in front of him, smiling kindly for the first time that morning. "You didn't abandon us, Master Baggins, as much as you wanted to."

"We know you were about to," Kili said as Bilbo opened his mouth to remind them of how he almost left before they were ambushed by the goblins, sensing what Bilbo was about to say. "But no one could blame you. We were in a difficult situation, after all."

"And I'm sure Uncle didn't help much," Fili said in a lower voice so Thorin wouldn't overhear, glancing over at the dwarf who was standing with Gandalf a little ways away. "He thinks very highly of you."

"He... Well, that's nice to hear," Bilbo said, trying to hide his pleasure at those words, looking over at Thorin himself, smiling. He was quite surprised at how Thorin had warmed up to him since they left the Misty Mountains and he had jumped in front of Azog. It had been barely a day since they were rescued by the eagles, but the change in Thorin's behavior towards him was still entirely noticable. Thorin's words were no longer laced in malice or disapproval; rather, there was an undertone of pride and affection whenever he spoke to or about the hobbit these past several hours.  
"And those things you said, Bilbo," Kili said, mimicking his brother and smiling. "About wanting to help us find our home."

"And when you saved Uncle's life," Fili added. "We all thought about it, we all wanted to go out there and save him. Yet you were the only one courageous enough to do it."

"So, again we owe you."

"Today is a day of rest and hobbit comforts."

"Also, we're curious about it."

"Hobbit culture, he means."

"Of course that's what I mean. What else?"

Bilbo looked back and forth between the two of them before smiling gently. "That's very kind, but I deserve no reward for the things that I've done or said. I was simply being a member of this Company and a friend. We hobbits take things like that, especially things down in writing, seriously. We're loyal, us from the Shire."

"I think it's just you," Fili said. "I met a Hobbit from Michel Delving once, when we were in Bree for trading business, you know-"

"Right nasty bloke, he was."

"Said we were queer looking folk!"

"Can you believe that?"

Bilbo honestly could, but he didn't say it. "Either way, hobbits are very fond of... small things. Small comforts."

"Seeing as you're small yourself, that makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Let's do it, Bilbo, come on!" Kili said earnestly, pressing his hands together pleadingly. "Uncle wants to rest a day before we head for Mirkwood. We'd be bored just sitting around as we always do. Something interesting! Come on!"

"Show us how hobbits do things," Fili said. "We've talking to the others about it-"

"Well, excluding Uncle-"

"And they're all excited for it!"

"Here, here!" Bofur called from the other side of the fire.

"I'm excited for how much they eat," Oin said, grinning.

"Not as excited as Bombur is," Gloin pointed out, and Bombur laughed good-heartedly.

"Well?"

Bilbo looked around at all the earnest faces and sighed in defeat before nodding. "Why not?"

"Hobbit Day!" The dwarves all cheered in unison, throwing their arms in the air.

* * *

"So what next?" Fili asked from across the fire as everyone finished their breakfast. Bilbo tilted his head in consideration.

"Well, there are a few hours until second breakfast-"

"Second breakfast?" Bombur repeated, looking excited. Bilbo chuckled and nodded.  
"And after that, there's elevensies, and then there's teatime, which is right before luncheon; then there's dinner, and no more meals until supper, and then dessert," Bilbo listed off, Bombur's and several of the other Dwarves expressions growing gradually more excited as the list grew longer. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with snacking in between meals, of course."

"Sounds like heaven to me," Bofur said in an almost dreamy way.

"What else do you Hobbits do besides eat?" Kili asked, raising an eyebrow. Eating was all well and good, but was that all these Hobbits did? "Surely that is not all?"

"Some of us read," Bilbo said after a moment of consideration. "Though that's mostly just myself. Hobbits generally harbor suspicion and distrust in the World Outside. We drink ale and smoke pipes, stay by each other pleasantly and peacefully and never speak too loud."

Thorin, who was sitting a ways a way with Gandalf, both pouring over a map of Mirkwood, found himself listening in on their conversation. To him, it seemed as though Hobbits were the exact polar opposite of Dwarves, if the Elves were no longer in consideration. Though it also seemed as though they shared in the love of ale.

"Other Hobbits dislike us?" Kili asked, sounding slightly offended.

"They dislike anything loud, strange or out of the ordinary," Bilbo said, and all in the Company could hear the bitterness in his voice. "At least that is the way of those in Hobbiton. Hobbits are beings of habit, you see. Going on this adventure in itself is very unlike the natural behavior of a Hobbit- very strange, indeed. Although it happens that my mother is of Took descent, therefore I am also, subsequently, and I have a bit of adventurous in me."

"Really?" Bofur asked, intrigued. Bilbo, of adventurous blood?

"Indeed," Bilbo said, with the hint of a smile at his lips. "The Took family, as a whole, was a very adventurous and worldly bunch. It's the Bagginses, which I come more wholly from, that are more like the other Hobbits in Hobbiton, or Buckland or any other place in the Shire, for that matter."

"So what do the others think of your leaving?" Thorin finally asked, speaking up and drawing attention to himself for the first time that morning. Bilbo looked at him, surprised at his interest, before smiling.

"I don't know. I rush right out the door that morning," Bilbo said with a good-natured laugh, a laugh that warmed all of the Dwarves far better than the fire served to. "I'm thought of as rather queer, adventure or no adventure alike, for I have a love for things in the Outside. I have maps and books and stories and legends, and many in Hobbiton do not even know how to read."

"So why do you?" Oin asked him, also becoming interested in the conversation.

Bilbo shrugged and poked at the fire with a stick, tapping the embers and thinking about the question. "I suppose it's because I'm not content with being an ignorant Hobbit my entire life; that is to say, I'm not content with ignoring and being ignored. I want to know about the World. It's there, no matter how many hills in the Shire obscure my view."

Thorin stared at the Hobbit for many moments after that; even while Fili and Kili asked countless questions about the Shire and Hobbits and pipeweed and Tookish blood, he found his gaze constantly drawn to Bilbo. Bilbo was always smiling, his soft brown eyes were gentle and sparkling with laughter, and Thorin wondered about his words. Bilbo seemed so very suited to the Hobbit life, his books and his comforts and his love for food and smoke rings, and yet Bilbo left in order to help them, help Thorin- a group of dwarves who pillaged his home along with the company of a wizard dressed in grey who spoke in riddles and disappeared faster than a whisper. Why? It hardly seemed fair. After second breakfast passed, and eventually elevensies and luncheon and teatime and all of the others, Thorin still was haunted by these thoughts and curiosities.

"So, Bilbo, have you got a lady Hobbit back at home?"

Bilbo choked on his tea in surprise, much to the amusement of the dwarves. Bofur slapped Bilbo on the back merrily, whether for assistance or the action of the thing, no one could say, but Bilbo sputtered out a thank you regardless. Bilbo cleared his throat and held onto his tea cup, which was just a thick mug, with as much dignity as he could muster. Thorin told himself that his interest in the answer to this question was simply the natural curiosity of a leader in his Company. Yes, that was it.

"No, I do not," Bilbo said stiffly. "Nor do I desire one, for that matter."

"Such a kind gentlehobbit should have a woman," Gloin announced, and a few of the other dwarves laughed.

"Yes, well. I'm thought of as rather odd," Bilbo reminded him. But he smiled. "I think it's perfectly fine, though. I have the company of my gardener, of course, and several relatives, whether pleasant or not."

"Well! We, as men, hardly need women!" Kili announced, holding his mug of ale up in the air with a grin. "We just need adventure and treasure!"

"Adventure and treasure!" The dwarves echoed, mimicking his actions with cheer and laughter. Bilbo watched them with a smile; however reluctant he was at the beginning of this journey, he was really very glad that he came on this journey. The company of that of Thorin Oakenshield was loud and a little bit barbaric, but it was kind. They all loved and looked after each other as family would, and a fair few of them were, indeed, related. Beside that, though, they accepted Bilbo and valued him as a member of their company. He was useless as a burglar, and yet he found himself part of this rowdy group. He wondered what the Sackville-Bagginses would say.

* * *

"You entertained them today."

Bilbo had slipped away, just after dinner and the Company was preparing for sleep, fighting over spots closest to the fire and telling stories of Erebor's glistening halls of emerald and rubies, to get some peace and quiet. He sat by the small river that they had camped by, the stars reflecting in the water like misty lights. Thorin had watched him go, and allowed his curiosity to get the better of him and follow him; he decided that, while he was the leader of this Company, and also a king, he couldn't deny his interest in Bilbo. He may have been the King Under the Mountain, but he was also a friend.

"Yes, well, I could hardly refuse, now could I?" Bilbo replied, but there wasn't any bitterness in his voice, and he was smiling. He straightened up and Thorin took a seat next to him by the water. "Although I'm afraid we may have used up all of our food supplies for the sake of, in the words of Bofur, 'Hobbit-ish gluttony'."

"We're fine," Thorin said with a small smile on his lips. "I'm more concerned with their efficiency tomorrow. You've probably put the in a Hobbit mindset."

"I wouldn't mind having second breakfast more often," Bilbo joked lightly, smiling wider when Thorin tried, again, to conceal his amusement. Why must he remain so stoic all the time? "I think, when you rule Erebor, you should constitute that second breakfast be a regular meal."

"And elevensies, too, of course," Thorin agreed. Bilbo laughed, and once again Thorin saw the warmth in his eyes. Thorin gazed up at the starry skies, and for a split second he saw billows of smoke rising towards the moon, hazes from the pines set ablaze and embers flying around him in all directions. He closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists before looking down at Bilbo, who was looking up at him in worry at his sudden silence and change of expression.

"We'll get it back, Thorin," Bilbo said quietly, putting one of both of his hands over one of Thorin's much larger ones, clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. "We'll definitely get it back."

"... Yes," Thorin said after a moment, ruffling Bilbo's hair with his free hand, and finally allowing a gentle smile to spread across his lips. "We will."

"I'd very much like to see the halls of Erebor," Bilbo said, looking down at the starlight in the water again. "If it's anything like I've read in stories, then I'm certain it's quite the sight to see."

"It is," Thorin replied, remembering. "The halls glitter with gems, and the mines run deeper than those in the Misty Mountains."

At the mention of the Mist Mountains, Thorin once again found himself in silent awe of the Hobbit who sat beside him. Bilbo held so much courage, so much strength, that it surprised and impressed him. As Thorin gazed down at Bilbo, who was gently nodding off beside him, he knew his debt would never be fully repaid. When Bilbo silently fell asleep beside him, and his head rested upon his shoulder purely by accident, he found himself smiling again; whatever his feelings were for the Hobbit, friendship or maybe something a little stronger and a little less innocent, he would definitely show Bilbo the halls of Erebor someday to show that this wasn't all in vain.

"You'll definitely see it," Thorin said quietly, looking up at the stars again. "We'll definitely see it."

* * *

**Author's** Note:

I HAD INTENDED SO MUCH MORE THILBO BAGGINSHIELD. But alas. My next story will definitely have more fluffy feels.


End file.
